You're not You Anymore
by HereticalMemeMachine
Summary: The journey from Mistral to Atlas was an arduous and eventful one, and despite the shared experiences that brought Blake and Yang back together on the trip, there is still some tension between them. As a night of celebration draws to a close, the two finally have the talk they need for their relationship to move forward.


**A/N:** This is a slightly edited down version of the full story made to be appropriate for most audiences. An explicit version is available on Ao3 under the same name. It's the same story, but with one extra scene included.

This story is based off of the song by Counterparts of the same name.

* * *

Huntresses. They were huntresses now.

Weiss was right. It did feel trivial now, after everything they'd been through. Even their run-ins with Roman Torchwick and the White Fang paled in comparison to the trials that all of them had been through in the past year. Yang remembered a time when she felt like a total badass, dealing with Roman and taking on a massive criminal network. But now, after the Fall, her recovery, Raven, Salem, and _Adam,_ the cocky crime boss seemed like child's play.

Still, all of her teammates had finally become what they set out to be when they enrolled at Beacon, and thanks to extraneous circumstances of their education, the process had been expedited by years. It had unfortunately come with a cost though. Their youth was taken from them far too soon, and that was something none of them would ever be able to get back. But tonight, the members of teams RWBY and JNPR could try. In an effort to recapture the enthusiasm they'd had at Beacon, they decided to bring their graduation party back from Amity Arena to their dorms and waste the night away enjoying life for once. Ironwood's mission and Salem's schemes could wait one night.

Yang opened her scroll as the group walked back to Atlas Academy. She took a quick glance at her teammates, and when she saw that no one was paying her any mind, she opened up her camera roll, flipping through the pictures she'd taken at their party. Specifically, a few selfies she'd taken after sneaking up on Blake, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, and snapping the camera. A smile grew involuntarily on her face as she scrolled through them, beginning with her partner looking over to her, obviously happy to see her but unsure of what was happening, then quickly realizing what was going on and beaming at the camera. _That smile,_ Yang thought. _That smile makes it all worth it._

She spent more time than she should have admiring Blake's smile before looking up to see her partner just in front of her, completely unaware of the fact that she'd been filling Yang's thoughts all day. They'd barely had time to talk this morning, as they'd been sent to Pietro's almost as soon as they'd gotten up to get their new weapons and armor. On the flight to the mine, Yang tried to pay attention to the mission briefing, but kept getting distracted by Blake's new look. It was different; she almost looked like an entirely different woman at first, but she was still so beautiful.

She'd thought she was doing a good job at being inconspicuous, but after they'd landed she made herself a little bit too obvious, gawking at her friend after they'd landed. When Blake caught her staring, she tried to play things off cool, but the smirk that Weiss shot her as she tried to reassure Blake that she liked the new haircut was evidence enough that it was fairly obvious, at least to others, how smitten she was.

They also hadn't had much time to talk during the rest of the day. After the mission ended, they were nearly instantly greeted by Ironwood, and then Weiss's stuffed up prick of a father. If Jacques was rude to Ironwood, then he was downright venomous to his daughter. Yang had to admit, she felt proud for her friend living up to her title of Ice Queen to her own dad. It sometimes amazed Yang just how far Weiss had come, from the stuffy heiress that constantly chastised Ruby when they started at Beacon to the huntress she was now.

Really though, they'd all changed a lot since they met. Ruby was coming into her own as a team leader and seemed to have grounded herself quite a bit. She was impressed by how well her little sister was holding not only herself together, but both her own team and Jaune's. As for herself, Yang had managed to pull herself from the lowest low she'd ever sunken to and come out stronger than she was before. She'd finally met her mother, and while she hadn't gotten the answers she always craved, she felt a little bit of retribution from their last conflict. Raven had left a much bigger scar on Yang's psyche than she cared to admit, but striking back at her ego and exposing her for the coward Yang now saw her to be helped ease the pain of abandonment, even if only slightly. And Blake…

_Blake is back. And she's not leaving again. That's all that matters,_ She told herself, forcing herself to stop her train of thought right there. No point in opening up that can of worms yet. Yang wanted to be happy right now.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Yang realized that they were almost back at their dorms. They'd been given a small area for the two teams, with a bedroom for each combined by a small commons. It was decided that Oscar would bunk with team JNPR, while Qrow and Maria would have their own accommodations in the form of rooms at a nearby hotel (courtesy of Ironwood, of course). They'd had a little bit of time last night to get settled in before heading off to bed, so the majority of their belongings were already unpacked and (at Ruby's behest) the bunk beds were set up, so when they finally made it back, the commons already felt like it could've been home. Though what really made it feel that way was all of Yang's friends gathered around each other, just enjoying themselves.

The commons was arranged with two loveseats and a couch surrounding a decent sized coffee table, with a large TV facing the couch. Yang found herself seated on the side of the couch, with Blake next to her and Weiss on the other end as they played some card game Jaune had found called _Million Lien But. _It was a great way to just distract herself from everything, and she was enjoying herself quite a bit trying to convince Nora that getting a million Lien was completely worth having to marry a beowulf.

As the night dragged on, people began to grow tired. Ren was the first to turn in for the night, and Jaune followed not too long after, though not without a fair bit of teasing from his peers that he needed to get a good night's sleep in before he walked a bunch of kids to school. Weiss was also rather exhausted, not just from the mission, but from having to confront Jacques earlier in the day, and when the sugar rush from all her cake came crashing down, Nora slumped back to her room. When Oscar finally turned in for the night, Ruby followed suit. Before she closed the door to RWBY's room, she glanced back at her teammates. "You guys coming to bed too?"

Yang shared a glance with Blake, who had slowly been shifting closer to her all evening until they were practically cuddled up on the couch. Her amber eyes looked so content right now, and Yang could understand why. She wanted to spend some time with her partner too, and with that in mind, she replied to her sister with, "We'll be there in a bit Rubes, don't worry."

"Alright then. G'night Blake, G'night Yang. I love you," Hearing that reminded Yang of when Ruby finally woke up after the Fall. How she'd tried to comfort Yang. How Yang had pushed her away. How she had said nothing in response. She always felt bad for staying silent, even if she was in a dark place at the time. But now she was better.

"Yeah, love you too, sis. G'night." Ruby smiled and closed the door on the two and, seeing that they were finally alone, Blake snuggled up close to Yang, something that she'd obviously been waiting all night to do. She curled up under Yang's human arm, nuzzled her head up against Yang's collarbone, and wrapped an arm around the brawler's waist. Her cat ears twitched against Yang's cheek as she settled in, and after a moment of surprise, Yang happily embraced her partner. She opened her mouth, so close to making some kind of joke about the situation, but decided against it, choosing just to enjoy the moment.

Still, even with Blake so close, Yang couldn't keep that nagging thought out of her head. _How long will this last? How long until I'm alone again?_ Yang's brow furrowed. She finally had Bake in her arms. Adam was dead. And above all, Blake had made a promise. One that she seemed fully intent on keeping. _Seemed._ She tried to force the doubt from her mind. She wanted to trust Blake, and above all, she just wanted to enjoy the moment.

Blake was silent too, and though her face was out of Yang's view, the feeling of her chest slowly rising and falling gave Yang the sense that she was content. If Blake was able to let herself go and relax, then Yang could find a way to just enjoy the moment.

Brothers, just let her enjoy the moment.

"Yang?" Blake's voice cut through Yang's thoughts, bringing her back to reality.

"What's up?"

"I'm… do you…" Blake was obviously struggling to find the words she wanted to say. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course. This is great!" Yang responded, probably a little too fast. The crack in her voice as she said it probably also did little to convince Blake.

"Yang, please. I can feel how tense you ar-"

"I'm fine, Blake! Really! I'm super happy we get to finally spend some quality time together! Why would anything be wrong?"

Blake sighed before raising her voice just a little, a tinge of anger and frustration lacing her words, "Because even after everything we've just been through, things still don't feel completely right between us, and we've still never talked about the fact that I just left!"

Yang's heart shot up into her throat with a pained jump. All of her efforts to bury her feelings of resentment, and the helplessness she'd felt while she was back on Patch, and Blake was digging them up. She stiffened up, and she knew that the faunus noticed by the way she sat up to look Yang in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," Blake started, "If you're still not ready to talk about it I-"

"No, you're right. We need to get this out there if we want things to be truly better between us," Yang responded. _If we wanna make this thing that's going on work, _she almost dared to say.

She saw Blakes ears droop a little, and her eyes filled up with sorrow. "I didn't want to leave," She confessed, "But after what Adam did to you, I thought you were all safer without me. I thought I was protecting you, even though now I see that I wasn't. I never wanted to hurt you." Tears were welling up in her eyes, and Yang could feel that she was on the verge of crying as well.

"But you did," The words were out before Yang could take them back, to hammer them into something more tactful and less harsh. Blake let out a soft sob, and Yang felt a stream of wet heat crawling down her own cheek. She pulled Blake into a tight embrace before continuing, "After the dance, I started seeing you… differently. It wasn't much at first, just admiring little things about you that I hadn't noticed before, but over time I realized that I had feelings for you. Not just a little crush like I was used to, but a genuine desire for you to be happy. And I wanted to _help_ you be happy."

She took a deep breath before continuing, the tears flowing faster and making it difficult for her words to stay clear, "I wasn't blind to the way you looked at Sun sometimes, and I would've been happy for you two if you did end up hooking up, but part of me wished that it coulda been us; that I could know that at the end of the day, we'd both be there, and we could cuddle up- a lot like this actually," She let out a pained laugh, the kind that only comes out ironically in deep sorrow, "And we'd just… talk. We'd tell each other about our days, about what's been going on, about _us._ I know it's stupid, but...yeah," She fumbled, not sure how to end her confessiion.

Yang hadn't realized, but as she was talking to Blake, she'd begun to run her prosthetic fingers through Blake's hair, softly petting her as she spoke. Her next words made her stop, and every part of her body froze as she recounted. "But then I saw Adam stab you. I couldn't let him hurt you, I couldn't let _anyone _ hurt you. When I woke up, Sun told me you had ran away, and I think that's what hit the hardest. Losing an arm, I could learn to live with. Losing you… not so much."

Blake had remained silent throughout Yang's confession, respectfully listening despite the fact that they were both full-on crying by now. "Oh Yang," she finally spoke up, "I'm so sorry!" The faunus wrapped her arms around Yangs shoulders and held her tight. "Adam told me, right before you showed up, that he was going to kill everyone I loved, and then seeing what he did to you, I just… I couldn't let anything else happen to you! I thought you were better off without me, I didn't… I didn't know you felt like that and I'm so sorry! I just wanted you to be safe!" The words were coming at Yang a mile a minute, and between Blake's sobs they were almost hard to distinguish. But the guilt and sorrow, those were clear as day to Yang.

"I know baby, I know," Yang reassured her, "And I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm also getting somewhere with this. While I was at home, all I could think about was how it felt like I always got left alone. By Raven, by Summer, and then by you. I was in a bad place at the time, and I just felt like everyone would leave me eventually. Ruby going to Mistral didn't help either. Seeing things like that made me realize that I… I couldn't love who you were," It hurt Yang to say that, but she knew that she needed to get it all out. What really broke her heart was seeing Blake's gaze fall downward, the look of absolute dejection that washed over her face. Yang was quick to raise her human hand to Blake's chin, lifting it back up so that their eyes could meet. "But you're not you anymore. You're someone better. You're someone that has grown from that, and I don't want to stay hung up on the past. We're both better people now, and if you feel the same, I wanna try to make something work with us."

Yang could see the fear and hurt melt off of Blake's face, replaced now by a look of hope and relief. "Yang, I… I'm so sorry you went through all of that. But you're right. I've learned that pushing you away isn't saving you, and I'm not going to leave again. I made a promise, and I _am_ going to keep it." She raised a finger to Yang's cheek, wiping away some of the tears, "And I think I'd like to make this work too. I didn't even realize it myself until after I left, but I had feelings for you too. Oddly enough, it was Sun that made me realize that," She let out a small laugh at the oddness of the situation. "He also was the one to make me realize that I shouldn't have left you."

"And after everything we've just been through, I'm certain that running away didn't help me, and it definitely didn't help you. I need you, Yang," Blake confessed, leaning closer in towards her partner.

"So do I. I honestly don't feel like I can do this without having you with me," Yang agreed. Like a magnet, she was drawn ever closer to Blake. Her heart began to race as she realized that their lips were barely an inch away from each other, and that gap was gradually shrinking. How many times had she imagined a moment like this happening back at Beacon?

Yang's lips finally met Blakes', gently at first. Her partner's were so soft; she felt cheated for never having gotten to experience them sooner. Yang let her eyes fall shut as she pressed ever so slightly into the kiss, parting her lips just enough for her tongue to slip through. It seemed that Blake had the same idea in mind though, as her mouth was blocked off by the faunus's own tongue creeping into her, occasionally bumping into Yang's and gingerly exploring her teeth.

Yang had never felt quite so intimate with someone before, and getting to know Blake the way she was now sent an excited shiver down her spine. She reached around her partner and placed an open hand against the back of Blake's head, enjoying the soft feel of her recently-cut hair. The sensation of finally kissing Blake had Yang's heart working in overdrive. Heavy, rapid thumps pounded from inside her chest so hard that they reverberated in her eardrums.

But there was another sound that caught her attention more than the staccato beating of her heart. A low rumbling, almost like bass to her drumming, began to slowly crescendo. Yang knew it wasn't coming from her own body, but she couldn't quite place what it was. It wasn't until her hand brushed ever so slightly against Blake's cat ears that she made the connection.

Blake was purring.

Yang wasn't sure if something had just been unlocked in her, some sort of turn-on she never knew she had, or if it was just a Blake thing, but the sound of her partner purring into her as they kissed made her absolutely melt. Any tension she may have had left in her vanished, and she nearly went limp against the couch, only barely able to hold on to Blake. Her sudden loosening didn't seem to go unnoticed, as Blake broke the kiss (eliciting a small and involuntary whimper from Yang) to ask, "That good, huh?"

"I guess you could say it was… purrfect," Yang responded with a dopey grin on her face that she couldn't wipe off if she wanted to. Not to pat herself on the back, but she was impressed by herself for being able to come up with any kind of pun when her mind was so overwhelmed by what had just happened. Blake tried to look disappointed at Yang, but she was unable to hide the grin on her face, and soon a soft laugh slipped out. "I knew you liked my puns," Yang added with more than a little bit of cockiness behind her words.

"You are so lucky you're cute, Xiao Long," Blake sternly responded (though her tone couldn't stop Yang's heart from fluttering at her words) before leaning in to give her another kiss. Yang happily returned it, eager to feel their lips touch again and to hear the dulcet tone of her partner's purrs. Seeing that they both had no intention of breaking this kiss for a while, Blake made herself comfortable, turning over and swinging a leg over Yang's lap to straddle her, all while never letting their lips separate. The blonde found this position much more comfortable; there was no need for the two to crane their necks toward each other anymore, and Yang could enjoy the sensation of Blake resting her weight on her.

Their bodies were pressed against each other, but Yang still wanted _more _of Blake. She wrapped her arms around the faunus, holding her in a tight embrace as she felt her partner take the opportunity to start exploring her body. Blake's hands slid down her sides, slowly trickling over her waist and coming to a rest at her hips before subtly hooking under Yang's shirt. The feel of her her fingers touching her bare skin was far more exhilarating than it ought to be, and Yang took a sharp breath in at the sensation. As soon as she felt Blake slowly tugging upward on the fabric though, she felt the need to interrupt. Reluctantly, she broke the kiss.

"Blake, before we go any further, I want you to know that I… I've never been _this_ _close_ to someone before," She wasn't sure exactly how to put it, especially given how her demeanor at Beacon made her seem like someone who had definitely gotten to at least second base before. She was nervous to see how Blake would take this new knowledge, but when she looked into those amber eyes, her fears of seeing the glossed over look of lost interest or the lustful drive to press onward regardless of Yang's desires were dashed. Instead she saw only love, compassion, and understanding.

"It's okay," Blake said, "We'll go at your pace."

"Brothers, I don't know how I got lucky enough to meet you." Yang's words were soft and breathy, barely over a whisper, but Blake's reaction could've fooled Yang into thinking she'd just shouted from the mountaintops as she pulled back and winced, her cat ears pulling back. It wasn't difficult for Yang to figure out why. Blake was her partner, and she knew her better than most people, which meant that she knew all too well how much self-guilt she carried. The faunus's quick glance at Yang's prosthetic only confirmed her suspicion.

"Hey," she spoke up, raising her metal arm to gently pet Blake's cheek. "What's in the past is in the past. I don't wanna see you get hung up on what happened before. This… whatever is happening right now, it's proof that what happened back then can stay there. I'm gonna keep moving forward, and I want to do that with you. You've made me feel happy in a way that no one ever has before, and I don't think anyone else ever will." A soft tear trickled down the Faunus's cheek, landing on the painted yellow metal of Yang's index finger. The smile on her face was all the brawler needed to see to know that this was a good kind of tear; the kind that showed that she'd gotten past the jagged walls of self-doubt and reached the bright and beautiful soul within.

"Yang," Blake stammered, "I don't… you… thank you." She seemed as though she could barely get the words out of her mouth before she broke out crying again, and Yang held her close as Blake let out a new wave of emotions. "I'll never leave you again, I promise," Blake sputtered.

"I know." Yang decided to show her trust in her partner by pulling her into another kiss. Her lips tasted vaguely salty now from the fresh tears flowing down, but Yang barely noticed. All that mattered to her in this moment was showing Blake that she believed in her. That she trusted her.

That she loved her.

Yang was still too afraid to admit that to herself, let alone to tell Blake, but deep inside she already knew it to be true. If what she felt wasn't love, then love had to be some unattainable emotion she would never feel, because all she could ever think about anymore was Blake, and how she wanted to help her always be as happy as she was around Yang. All of this, she tried to convey not through any words, but by the gentle petting of Blake's hair, by the hand coming down to slowly rest on her thigh, by the playful attempt at intertwining their tongues, and by the soft moans she let out whenever Blake would take it upon herself to explore a new part of Yang's body,

It was Blake that broke their third kiss, after the last of her tears had finally been shed and her focus had returned back to feeling Yang's bare skin. "So," The faunus started, "Did you want to go further?"

"Absolutely," Yang responded, "But there's one slight problem with that." She gestured back to the room behind her, where their teammates were sleeping with only thin walls and an almost-definitely-not-soundproof door between them. "If you wanna risk waking them up, we can go ahead now. Brothers know I'm ready to." She watched as Blake carefully weighed her options. It felt like agony, waiting to know what her partner would decide, but eventually Blake answered.

"As much as I want to spend some real quality time with you, I don't know if I could look Ruby in the eye if she heard us. Or bear listening to Weiss scolding us." A visible shiver went down Blake's spine as she said that.

"Yeah, it's probably for the better if we wait until we can actually be alone," Yang admitted. "However, I have a pretty good feeling both of them are at least partially aware that there's been… something between us."

"Yeah? What's your point?"

"I just don't think we'd get much more than an odd look or a 'took you long enough' from either of them if we just shared a bed tonight." A giddy smile grew on Blake's face as Yang proposed the was glad to see that they were both just as enthusiastic about the idea of staying snuggled up together for the night. "Besides," Yang said, followed by a drawn out yawn, "I am really tired right now."

"Yeah, so am I," Blake agreed. "I think it's time we get some sleep.

"Well, I'm either gonna sleep like a baby tonight or get none at all, depending on how distracted I get having such a beautiful girl sharing a bed with me," Yang flirted. Blake softly giggled before finally dismounting from the blonde. As she stood up, she held out a hand to Yang. "Shall we?" she asked.

Yang took her hand and stood up. "I think we shall," she replied, and the two made their way back to their room, where they collapsed onto Blake's bed. Blake lifted up the sheets, and the two crawled under them, though not before Yang detached her arm and reached over Blake to place it on the nearby nightstand. They lay down on their sides next to each other, both facing outward towards the center of the room. Yang placed what remained of her right arm under Blake's neck, allowing her to use it as a pillow. Her left arm wrapped around the Faunus, coming to rest just below her breasts and holding her close. Yang let out a contented sigh, and it wasn't long before the sweet, low humming of Blake's purring started up.

Despite how tired she was, Yang was having trouble falling asleep. There was so much about Blake that she hadn't noticed before, and only now in this intimate moment did she get a chance to discover most of it. For one, despite all of them going on a somewhat intense mission this morning and getting no chance to shoiwer afterwards, Blake's hair still smelled rather nice. Her ears would also occasionally twitch involuntarily, even though she was already asleep. At least, Yang thought she was asleep.

"You know, you're _really_ warm." Or maybe she wasn't.

"Sorry," Yang whispered.

"No, it's fine. I like it. It's like having my own little space heater. Which, given that we're in Atlas, is definitely appreciated."

"Yeah? Well, I'm glad I could help." Yang decided to snuggle up even closer to Blake, assuming that was even possible, just to make sure she was nice and warm through the night. Her exhaustion was catching up with her, and it was finally outweighing her desire to stay up and admire Blake. With the comforting release of sleep beckoning her, Yang whispered a soft "Good night, Blake," In her partner's ear.

"So, did you two sleep well last night?" Weiss asked. Her tone sounded affronted and irritated, but the smirk she wore showed that she was just teasing them. Yang felt blood rushing into her face, and as she reached up to nervously scratch her head, she looked over to her partner, who was also wearing an absolutely adorable blush. Ruby snickered from across the table.

When Yang had awoke, Blake still curled up in her arm, the sun was shining through the window and her other teammates were nowhere to be seen. Blake seemed to still be asleep, and Yang, not wanting to disturb her, elected to savor what time she did have left like this. She planted a soft kiss on the Faunus's neck before letting herself drift between sleep and wakefulness. When Blake did wake up, she spun around to face the blonde. "Oh good," she mumbled, "It wasn't a dream."

"Good morning to you too," Yang said after a soft giggle. They spent a little more time together, just enjoying lying in each other's arms, before their better judgement (and growling stomachs) forced them to get up and get some breakfast. After grabbing some food, they searched Atlas Academy's colossal dining hall for their teammates. Thankfully, all they had to do was wait for Nora to make some kind of commotion, which didn't take long. The two made their way over to where their friends were sitting and took a seat across from their friends, which prompted Weiss's question.

"Uh, yeah! Just great!" Yang stammered out. Weiss rolled her eyes and gave her a genuine smile. "Hey, don't worry," Weiss replied, "We're happy for you. All of us." And just like that, any tension in Yang vanished. She looked over to Blake and grinned at her before turning back to her teammates. "Thanks," Blake said, and as she did, she placed a hand on Yang's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"It took you guys long enough," Ruby piped up. "You've been more obvious lately than even those two." She pointed towards Ren and Nora, who was finally calming down from whatever had caused her outburst moments before, much to the amusement of Jaune and Oscar.

Her sister was right. It had taken both of them far too long to reach this point. But she and Blake were finally more than just friends, even more than partners. What they had now was something special, and Yang could feel deep in her heart that nothing would be able to take that from them ever again.


End file.
